Industry analysts were impressed this morning when Diamond Comics published their February sales stats, showing a huge increase in sales over the same period last year for the second month in a row. The industry, which suffered from low sales and a dwindling readership over the past decade, began to turn around with DC's Nu52 reboot in late 2011, and really kicked into high gear with Marvel's own relaunch, Marvel NOW! The figures show that gimmicks really are what drives comic book sales.

"Fans have been saying for years, 'we just want quality stories. Holofoil covers, reboots, events, and other gimmicks aren't going to permanently increase sales.'" explained Joe Quesada, head honcho of Marvel Comics. "But they were lying. They wanted gimmicks after all."

"I'll never doubt myself again," he added.

The number one selling book in February was Justice League of America #1, which featured an unprecedented 52 variant covers, each a minor variation on a single image with a state flag crudely photoshopped into it. "We really outdid ourselves on that one," said DC leader Dan Didio. "We didn't even have to pay the intern who put the flags in."

March's sales are expected to be even higher, with Marvel's Age of Ultron mega crossover event kicking off, along with the fallout of DC's Batman Incorporated #18, which featured a cheap and meaningless death, one of the chief staples of comic book gimmickry. "The fans are stupid," Quesada and Didio agreed.

Another interesting fact of note about the February sales stats is the rise in popularity of IDW Comics. Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnstonpointed out that, despite the overall rise in sales stats, Marvel and DC's market share declined slightly:

So where did this share go? IDW it seems who, on the back of My Little Pony, saw their dollar marketshare rise from 6.30% to 7.09% and their individual comic share rise from 3.92% to 6.04%.

We reached out to IDW editor in chief Chris Ryall for comment, but he was too preoccupied with rubbing hundred dollar bills all over his naked body. "Mmmmmmm," was all the executive would tell us.

Here's the sales charts, courtesy of Diamond:

TOP COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS

RETAIL MARKET SHARE

PUBLISHER

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

34.86%

DC ENTERTAINMENT

29.22%

IMAGE COMICS

7.76%

IDW PUBLISHING

7.09%

DARK HORSE COMICS

4.82%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.80%

BOOM! STUDIOS

1.97%

EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS LTD

1.42%

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC

0.99%

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC

0.94%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

8.11%

UNIT MARKET SHARE

PUBLISHER

SHARE

MARVEL COMICS

38.46%

DC ENTERTAINMENT

32.89%

IMAGE COMICS

7.89%

IDW PUBLISHING

6.04%

DARK HORSE COMICS

4.16%

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

2.55%

BOOM! STUDIOS

1.75%

VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC

0.98%

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC

0.73%

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS

0.57%

OTHER NON-TOP 10

3.98%

COMPARATIVE SALES STATISTICS

DOLLARS

UNITS

FEBRUARY 2013 VS. JANUARY 2013

COMICS

5.04%

3.73%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-20.37%

-14.28%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

-3.53%

2.33%

FEBRUARY 2013 VS. FEBRUARY 2012

COMICS

15.91%

14.75%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

-1.47%

0.90%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

10.48%

13.73%

YEAR-TO-DATE 2013 VS. YEAR-TO-DATE 2012

COMICS

18.95%

17.20%

GRAPHIC NOVELS

17.14%

15.04%

TOTAL COMICS/GN

18.39%

17.05%

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

JUSTICE LEAGUE OFAMERICA#1

$3.99

DEC120183

DC

2

UNCANNY X-MEN #1

$3.99

DEC120608

MAR

3

BATMAN #17

$3.99

DEC120264

DC

4

JUSTICE LEAGUE #17

$3.99

DEC120174

DC

5

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #3

$3.99

DEC120662

MAR

6

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #4

$3.99

DEC120664

MAR

7

UNCANNY X-MEN #2

$3.99

DEC120613

MAR

8

UNCANNY AVENGERS #4

$3.99

NOV120657

MAR

9

DETECTIVE COMICS #17

$3.99

DEC120274

DC

10

SECRET AVENGERS #1

$3.99

DEC120624

MAR

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

NEMO: HEART OF ICE HC

$14.95

DEC121247

TOP

2

BATMAN: THE NIGHT OF THE OWLS HC

$29.99

OCT120247

DC

3

ADVENTURE TIME VOLUME 2 TP

$14.99

DEC120941

BOO

4

THE WALKING DEAD VOL. 1: DAYS GONE BYE TP

$14.99

NOV128157

IMA

5

SAGA VOLUME 1 TP

$9.99

AUG120491

IMA

6

BATMAN: THE BLACK MIRROR TP

$16.99

NOV120268

DC

7

CATWOMAN VOLUME 2: DOLLHOUSE TP

$14.99

NOV120260

DC

8

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/DOCTOR WHO: ASSIMILATION2 VOLUME 2 TP

$17.99

NOV120336

IDW

9

BATGIRL VOL. 1: THE DARKEST REFLECTION TP

$14.99

NOV120261

DC

10

ADVENTURE TIME VOLUME 1 TP

$14.99

SEP120922

BOO

TOP 10 BOOKS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

PRICE

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

LEGEND OF ZELDA: HYRULE HISTORIA HC

$34.99

SEP120055

DAR

2

UNEARTHING SC

$29.95

OCT121209

TOP

3

BONE: QUEST FOR SPARK BOOK 3 SC

$10.99

NOV121202

SCH

4

HELMETGIRLS: ART OF CAMILLA D'ERRICO HC

$24.99

MAR120056

DAR

5

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: 1960-1964

$39.95

AUG121321

TWO

6

DOC SAVAGE: THE NEW ADVENTURES VOLUME 4: DEATH'S DARK DOMAIN

$24.95

DEC121396

WIL

7

STEAMPUNK: THE BEGINNING SC

$24.95

SEP121318

GIN

8

THE WALKING DEAD NOVEL VOL. 1: RISE OF THE GOVERNOR SC

$14.99

MAR121340

ST.

9

ART OF DEAD SPACE HC

$34.95

DEC121336

RAN

10

ART OF BLIZZARD HC

$75.00

AUG121447

PUB

TOP 10 TOYS

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

MARVEL SELECT: VENOM ACTION FIGURE

AUG121762

DST

2

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY SERIES 4: NIGHTWING FIGURE

DEC120375

DC

3

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY SERIES 4: BATMAN FIGURE

DEC120376

DC

4

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY SERIES 4: TALIA FIGURE

DEC120377

DC

5

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY SERIES 4: DEADSHOT FIGURE

DEC120374

DC

6

DC COMICS: THE NEW 52: GREEN ARROW ACTION FIGURE

NOV120313

DC

7

STAR TREK: NEMESIS: USS ENTERPRISE-E SHIP

APR121693

DST

8

SCARLET WITCH STATUE

JUL121856

BOW

9

GENTLE GIANT: DEADPOOL MINI-BUST

AUG121851

GEN

10

MARVEL UNIVERSE ACTION FIGURES

JAN131691

HAS

TOP 10 GAMES

RANK

DESCRIPTION

ITEM CODE

VENDOR

1

MARVEL HEROCLIX: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BOOSTER BRICK

NOV122067

NEC

2

MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: GATECRASH BOOSTERS

DEC121918

WIZ

3

MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: GATECRASH FAT PACK

DEC121920

WIZ

4

YAHTZEE: DOCTOR WHO COLLECTOR'S EDITION

OCT122011

USA

5

MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: GATECRASH INTRO DECK

DEC121921

WIZ

6

MONOPOLY: LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY EDITION

JAN132013

USA

7

GAME OF THRONES LCG HBO EDITION

OCT121990

FAN

8

MAGIC THE GATHERING TCG: GATECRASH EVENT DECK

DEC121919

WIZ

9

SETTLERS OF CATAN NEW EDITION

NOV074603

MAY

10

TICKET TO RIDE

MAR043750

DAY

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About the Author - Jude Terror

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